The Larry McDonough Aster Sunday Jazz Series presents classic jazz on the first Sunday of the month.

Larry McDonough, piano and vocals
Richard Terrill, saxes and poetry
Carol Bergquist, flute,
Greg Stinson, bass
Dean White, drums

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The Larry McDonough Quartet will perform timeless jazz fusion from Chick Corea and Return to Forever. Corea formed Return to Forever in 1972 as a vehicle for Brazilian jazz centered on the Fender Rhodes electric piano and featuring singer Flora Purim, Joe Farrell on saxes and flute, bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Airto. Return to Forever released two albums, Return to Forever and Light as a Feather, before reforming as a jazz-rock fusion band. Corea continued to collaborate frequently while exploring different musical styles throughout the his long career. He won 27 Grammy Awards and was nominated more than 60 times. Corea died in February 2021 at age 79.

Notable pieces included Crystal Silence, La Fiesta, Light as a Feather, 500 Miles High, Children’s Song, and Spain. Larry McDonough listened to Return to Forever in high school and college, transcribing and practicing many of Corea’ solos to practice. Larry will take on the roles of Corea and Flora Purim who sang on the recordings. Richard Terrill and Carol Bergquist cover the sound of Joe Farrell on saxes and flute, respectively. Greg Stinson and Dean White add bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Airto to the mix.

The second set will feature jazz fusion from the Larry McDonough Quartet two CD set Alice in Stonehenge and other AcoustElectric Adventures that charted #18 on the Roots Music Report’s Top 50 Jazz Album Chart. Hear electric covers of Spinal Tap, Dave Brubeck, Sting, Led Zeppelin, Prince, Eric Clapton, and originals. http://larrymcdonoughjazz.homestead.com/AliceinStonehenge.html

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The Larry McDonough Quintet

Larry McDonough is an award-winning St. Paul jazz composer, pianist, singer, and teacher, performing around the world and recording with his group the Larry McDonough Quartet as well as solo, and in duos and trios. He has performed with legendary saxophonist and composer Benny Golson, Trombonist Fred Wesley, and trumpeter Duane Eubanks, as well as a who’s who of local jazz artists, and was inducted into the Minnesota Rock Country Hall of Fame for his work in the group Danny’s Reasons. His awards include the American Composers Forum Showcase Award for the composition “Strait of Gibraltar.”

He has released eleven CDs and DVDs as a leader. His current CDs are “Kind of Bill on the Palace Grounds, Marking 40 Years since the Death of Bill Evans,” playing on jazz radio stations and streaming services around the country, and “Intermodulating Undercurrents Live at the Kos: The Music of Bill Evans and Jim Hall.” The two-CD set “Alice in Stonehenge and other AcoustElectric Adventures” has played on radio stations and streaming services around the world and charted #18 on the Roots Music Report’s Top 50 Jazz Album Chart. “Simple Gifts” reached number 29 on the CMJ Jazz Chart and also has been played on hundreds of stations around the country and throughout the world. http://larrymcdonoughjazz.homestead.com/Biography.html

Richard Terrill, sax player and retired Minnesota State University Mankato English Professor, received the Minnesota Book Award for Poetry for his poetry compilation Coming Late to Rachmaninoff (University of Tampa Press, 2003). Richard has been performing with Larry McDonough since December 2001. He also has performed with guitarist Jim McGuire and with Chaz Draper’s Uptown Jazz Quartet. As a college student, Richard was a member of the award-winning University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Jazz Ensemble and performed with later-to-be Pat Metheny keyboardist Lyle Mays in the Lyle Mays Quartet, winner of small group honors at the Midwest College Jazz Festival. He has also worked with pianist Geoff Keezer. His current books of poetry is What Falls Away Is Always and Essentially. https://richardterrill.com/

Flautist Carol Bergquist has been active as a performer, soloist, and teacher in the Twin Cities for 30 years. She has performed with members of the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and in local orchestras, including the Civic Orchestra of Minneapolis, Mississippi Valley Orchestra, and Allegro Sinfonia. In addition, she has performed for at The Basilica of Saint Mary for 35 years, performing Masses, special events, and NDI Production’s annual summer musicals, involving numerous Basilica members. Carol studied with Cynthia

Stokes, Adam Kuenzel, and Donald Peck and has performed at master classes at the Ordway Music Theater with Carol Wincenc and DePaul University in Chicago with Donald Peck.

Bassist Greg Stinson plays in several bands around the Twin Cities. He has been the bass player in the Century College Jazz Ensemble for more than 25 years. He also plays in the CC Septet, Shorn Hortz Quintet, Paul Berger Trio, the St. Croix Jazz Ensemble, and regularly subs with the Nova Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, Classic Big Band, and Cedar Avenue Big Band. Greg spent many years playing saxophones, guitar, bass, and vocals in jazz/rock and variety bands in the area. He is an active composer/arranger with jazz charts in the books of the Century Band, Nova, CC Septet, and others. He has also written a number of choral arrangements and compositions for school and church groups.

Dean White grew up in Superior, Wisconsin, and played in various working bands while attending the University of Wisconsin, Superior. After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in percussion performance, he moved to Hollywood, California, to attend Musicians Institute College of Contemporary Music. Half-way through the first year, Dean was offered a main showroom gig at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas. He was the first drummer in the Legends In Concert Show that still performs in various incarnations across the country today. He left Las Vegas to join Tony Axtell and Toshi Hinata in Tokyo to write and play original music. Since settling back in the Twin Cities, Dean has performed with many groups, including Good, the Bad and the Funky; the Autobody Experience; Century Big Band; Nova Jazz; Big Time Jazz Orchestra; the Shorn Hortz jazz quintet; Power of 10; Jack Knife and the Sharps; Tubby Esquire; Hennessy Brothers jazz; and many others. He has also studied privately with Gordy Knudtson and his Open/Close hand technique. Dean feels blessed to be part of the rich music scene in the Twin Cities.

The Larry McDonough Quartet Official Website

Music 8-10

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